Ph.D. Thesis, pages 1-217 pp.. New York, NY, USA: City University, 1989. Available from University Microfilms, PO Box 1764, Ann Arbor, MI, USA: Order No. 90--00, 671.
Abstract: This work presents the concept and implementation of a Rule-Based Petri Net (RBPN) class. The author demonstrates that RBPN's are capable of modeling a generic type of expert system shell. As a design tool, the author presents RBPN concepts in the development of Production Rule systems. The author also indicates the added RBPN contributions toward Conflict Resolution techniques for all types of Rule-Based systems. The RBPN has been developed with the following characteristics: two transition types, the first representing a rule statement, and the second a query transition for determining qualifier existence; two place types, one containing simple tokens, and the second place type allowing for data to be represented as bags of information.
Keywords: (design and analysis of) expert system(s); rule-based net; expert system shell; production rule system; conflict resolution techniques; query transition; information bag.